BRISTOL RACE REPORT
- by Stenzo

SPEED NABS PERSONAL BEST 10th WIN IN BRISTOL WRECK-FEST!

Bristol Motor Speedway (9/17/00) -- Speed broke another personal record this weekend, winning for the 10th time this year, besting his career record of 9 wins in his championship winning 1998 season. He only needs 2 more wins this year to tie the all-time single-season win record of 12 wins currently held by Coyote, who achieved the feat last year en route to his championship title. Speed qualified dead last, starting from the 25th position, and experienced some trouble early on, getting spun into the wall after making contact with another car, damaging his car and falling off the lead lap. Later on, when lining up for a restart, in a show of camaraderie and good sportsmanship, Stenzo let Speed get by and back on the tail end of the lead lap. Several laps later, another caution flag flew and allowed him to stay on the lead lap. Because there were only 13 cars left on the lead lap, Speed restarted 8th and never looked back, as he mounted a determined charge to the front, finally getting past Stenzo for the lead late in the race for yet another win in his amazing season. With the win, he now has 10 wins, 14 top 5s, and 16 top 10s in 23 races this year, maintaining his series-leading points standing with a 305 point lead over second-place Stenzo.

Stenzo qualified 9th and had a good car all day long. He carefully and patiently passed cars early on, slowly making his way toward the front, then managed to grab the lead after winning a drag race back to the line for one of the 10 caution flags that flew to slow the event. On the restart, he allowed teammate Speed, who was a lap down, to stay in front of him for several laps, until another caution flag came out, which allowed Speed to circle the track and stay on the lead lap, at which time Stenzo pitted for fuel and fresh tires. He eventually made his way back to the front to lead a race-high 64 laps, but couldn't manage to hold off Speed, who passed him late in the race to grab the win, leaving him to settle for second place for the third time this year. This marks Stenzo's 12th top 5 and 12th top 10 of the year.

Coyote started from the 7th position and had a very fast race car, but had a bit of trouble when he got rear-ended by Bob during one of the early restarts, then was collected in a wreck that occurred in front of him, damaging his car. During the ensuing caution period, he pitted several times to repair the damage and returned to the track back in the field. After the restart, he had made up several positions, but got damaged again after getting into the back of a car while racing out of turn 2, slamming the wall and losing a tire. And to make matters worse, as he slowed to pit, he got collected in another wreck, which allowed the leaders to pass by and drop him a lap down. He eventually dropped another lap during the remaining laps, but managed to stay among the top 10 to finish 8th, marking his 10th top 10 finish of the year, and close the points gap to 112 points between he and third-place series point-holder Bob.

Bob qualified 6th with a fast car, and got off to a quick start once the green flag fell. Unfortunately, he got into the back of another car early in the race, damaging the front of his car, although he was able to maintain position on the track until the first caution flag flew, when he gave up the 4th spot to pit and repair the damage. Later on, he got into the back of Coyote heading into turn one during a restart and damaged his nose again, then pitted again to repair the damage, dropping him back in the field and off the lead lap. During the rest of the event, he ended up falling back another lap, but like Coyote, he was able to stay in the top 10 in 10th place, where he would eventually finish, marking his 10th top 10 finish of the season.